No Looking Back
by Teh-n00bie
Summary: The infection affected millions of lives, and she was no different, just another soldier with a dark past and mistrust for the military. Just another person to realize there's no looking back. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Introduction

The infection had taken more from me then I thought possible. I tripped blindly over my own feet, cursing quietly under my breath. I had been kicked out of two bars this evening. I mean it hadn't been _my _fault; I had been sitting alone as usual, when a man had approached. He had gotten a little too... _touchy _so I had flipped over the counter into the bartender. Apparently that wasn't very acceptable behavior. Darn, and I had only gotten three shots in. I swayed a little then sprinted towards a trashcan and puked.

"I guess I'm a light weight" I mused to myself blandly as I spit the taste of stomach acid from my mouth. I had never as much as a beer before, but today I didn't want to feel anything. Two bars, five shots and I still didn't feel numb enough.

Too drunk to find another bar and not drunk enough to go home, I wandered around the city in a haze. Two days since the infection began_,_ _two _days for the last of the people I cared about to be ripped away. I stopped a moment and leaned against light pole. I ran my hand through my hair. I needed another drink. I blinked and watched a man in army garb patrol the corner. Had I stumbled into a military controlled area without knowing it? I shook my head to clear it. I watched as two women, clad in cocktail dresses, giggled to each other. Not paying attention the first stepped directly into the soldier's way. Even in my hazy state I knew what was coming.

"Hey! Watch it!" The soldier started flailing his gun around, pointing it at the startled woman. She whimpered. "Move or I'll..."

I stepped in one swift moment, using my right hand to push the gun up away from the poor woman's face. I shoved my left elbow into his gut. With a grunt, he toppled over.

"Or you'll do what?" I smirked and swung his gun, an assault rifle, over my shoulder. His expression was priceless. I glanced over my shoulder. "Get home you two." I said, a harsh edge to my words. They glanced at each other and sped off in the direction they had arrived. I rolled my eyes, and to think they were probably older than me. I turned my attention to the soldier on the ground. I flipped the gun over and handed it to him. "Let's not get too trigger happy now, alright?" He nodded quickly. I debated if giving this guy a speech on proper gun etiquette would really have any effect. I shrugged and walked away, nothing I would say would change his mind, and even if I beat the shit out of him there were always another dozen of trigger-happy morons ready to jump at any chance to put a bullet in something. I frowned at the thought. Another wave of ignorant thugs calling themselves Marines, or even more laughably, Blackwatch. They waltz into infected areas guns flailing, exterminating everything, not even pausing at those who claimed to be not infected. The people around the city grew more and more uneasy, afraid to even cough, in fear of being called infected and being murdered on the spot.

I found myself in front of another bar, one of the shrinking industries still in business in this warzone. I entered, sizing up the bouncer, who just glanced in my direction. Of course he'd underestimate a woman, especially one barely 5'3". He didn't even notice the 9mm tucked carelessly in my waistband. I sat down at the bar and ordered a shot. The bartender, a Latino man in his early thirties, glanced up and asked to see an ID. I groaned but handed it over. He looked at it skeptically and checked it pointedly. Apparently convinced, he handed me my drink.

"I gotta say chica, it's hard to believe you're 24, you could pass for 18 if you really wanted."

"Thanks." I mumbled, downing the bitter liquid. I tried to swallow it so it wouldn't touch my tongue, but failed miserably. I couldn't hide my sour expression. I heard the bartender laugh.

"That's pretty strong stuff, you sure you can handle it?" I nodded, unable to get the awful taste out of my mouth. He chuckled again. "You better be careful, there's alotta guys out there who would take advantage of a pretty girl like you." I smirked at this and ordered another. I sighed and leaned on the counter.

"Are all these people seriously that oblivious to what happening in this city?" I wondered aloud. The bartender, Erick I believe, who was helping another gentleman, wandered over at the hint of a real conversation.

"Many people either don't notice or don't care, others are taking advantage of the situation." I gave him a quizzical look. "Bars, for example. The soldiers definitely like getting drunk." I took a piece of ice from behind the counter and chewed on it thoughtfully. A small television flickered, ignored, in the corner. The news was on, but the music drowned out the newscaster. On the screen pictures of red stained buildings and mutated bodies flashed. A man to my right shouted loudly at the bartender to change the channel. Instead Erick turned it up.

_"The official report is that a biological terrorist attack is causing savage mutations and deaths of as much as thousands of New Yorkers. Scientists are assuring the public that the virus cannot cross bodies of water and that every measure possible is being taken to secure the island of Manhattan. There is no news, however, about how infected are being dealt within the quarantine area. As for the name of the group being accused of this terrifying attack, officials are still searching for leads. Though many are pointing toward a Dr. Alexander J. Mercer as the main figure responsible..."_

This information is the last I registered before my mind became too blurred and shaky to remember anything else. All I know is I must have downed a considerable amount of liquor and somehow managed to make my way to an alley half way across the city.

I awoke feeling like I had been hit by a bus, and for all I knew I could have been. I massaged my thundering temples. Ah, so _this_ is what a hangover feels like. I managed to push my self up against the wall, my brain shrieked as light poured into my eyes. I blinked rapidly, trying to vaguely understand where I was. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. A quick glance told me I wasn't naked nor had I been that night, another said I was fairly clean save for messy hair and morning breath. My location, on the other hand, was another thing entirely. I was sitting in a rat-infested alleyway, curled up in somebody's jacket. Either there was a very kind gentleman out there or I had mugged someone. I palmed my eyelids. What time was it?

Someone cleared their throat and I jumped. My head smacked against the brick behind me and I cringed. I am never. Drinking. Again. _Ever. _The silhouette moved suddenly, flinging something at my head. On reflex I caught them. A pair of Aspirin and a water bottle. I popped the two tablets into my mouth thankfully.

"You always sleep in alleyways Sergeant?" I heard humor in his voice. I took a swig of water.

"It's not the worst place I've woken up sir." I tacked on the last formality purely out of habit. He laughed dryly. I stood and stretched, using the opportunity to read the situation. The man who had spoken was huge, at least six feet tall, and well built, in his late thirties by a quick guess. His hair was ink black with a streak of white. He was also armed to the teeth. My eyes wandered, found an electric mechanism at his waist, which I assumed acted like a high powered tazer, then drifted to his left arm which had a large specialized grenade launcher. Another glance around him told me he wasn't alone. A half dozen or so men, equally armed, stood ready for orders behind him. My hand found it's way to the 9mm I still had hidden on my waist. If I had to fight... shit I didn't like those odds.

The man who had spoken, nodded for me to follow. Inwardly I slapped myself for getting into this predicament. They knew _I_ knew I was outmatched and they were counting on me realizing this. Uncomfortably

I followed.

"If I may ask, mystery man, where are we going?" I let the sarcasm drip. His lips curled the tiniest bits at the corners. Oh No.

"About that..." I had a moment to blink before I felt a needle slip into my neck.

A while later, immeasurable because of my unconsciousness, I woke up in an elevator next to the same man from before. We were alone at the moment, but I was fairly certain that wouldn't be the case in a few seconds.

"Why the hell couldn't you of just blindfolded me?" I grumbled. His face stayed the same but I felt him mentally smirk. "Whoop de fucking do." I muttered. The doors opened and I realized I had been disarmed. Of course. "Can I at least know your name?"

Without acknowledging me in the least he stated "Captain Robert Cross from Blackwatch Central Command"

"The Specialist?" I muttered. His name had floated around my branch back when I had been in the military. Deadly guy, had quite an interesting background.

The doors opened abruptly, revealing a spacious room. It was filled with scattered desks; the walls were lined with metal I couldn't quite describe. At the far end of the space was a larger, oak desk, complete with the Blackwatch emblem hung above it. My posture straightened when I spotted another man standing behind said desk.

"Sir, I have brought the woman you asked for." Cross barked, saluting. I looked between them in disbelief, this wasn't happening.

"Sergeant Alysa Calder." I nodded in recognition. "I am General Peter Randall, I apologize for the... rough... welcome." I put my chin up sharply in a get-to-the-point gesture. "We'd like to extend our warmest welcome to you, welcome to Blackwatch headquarters."

"I can't say I'm happy to be here, but I appreciate the gesture." I lied. "Now if you don't mind sir, could you please get to the part where you tell me why I'm here?" He sighed and pulled out something from his desk. A laptop and a rather thick folder. He placed his hand on the latter. I realized abruptly he only had one arm; I scavenged my tired, hung over brain for a name. He looked so familiar.

"Miss Calder, in my entire military career, I have had many extremely skilled men under my service, you, I am slightly ashamed to say, surpass them all." I blinked, this guy didn't seem like a man would give out a complement, well, ever.

"Thank you sir?" I mumbled. He continued.

"Your file is better than most men twice your age. Almost better than Cross here." I scowled.

"Go on?"

"I want you on my team, you are more than qualified. Right now we're.... lacking men that are capable of surviving this particular threat." I may not be the smartest woman out there, but I'm proud to say I can tell Bull Shit when I hear it. I mulled it over. Okay, I'll play along.

"And that is sir?"

"The Blacklight virus, the thing responsible for this entire shitty mess, ZEUS."

"Alex Mercer." I let the name fall from my lips. The general gave a curt nod, his eyes meeting mine. I felt my gut clench, I didn't trust this guy. I've found throughout my life that the only 'trust' worth giving out is reserved for family and intuition. In this case, I trusted my gut.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to decline." I pulled my lips into a smile. I turned to go. I heard a sigh behind me.

"You young officers are so naive. You seem to think that my offer was optional." I felt the butt of a gun tap the back of my skull. I took in a deep breath and let it hiss out of my teeth. "I may be young General, but I have enough pull in the military to be able to pull up some interesting information on you, General Peter Randall. Hope, Idaho? Yeah I know what happened, or the basic gist anyway. I know that Blackwatch is just a sorry excuse to cover up Gentek's inability to contain the Blacklight. I don't feel like taking part in the murder of civilians in the name of patriotism." I heard a growl.

"Just like when you killed those innocents in Brazil?" I felt cold suddenly.

"Yeah, something like that."

I Jumped forward onto my hands and kicked the gun out of Cross's hand. I caught it before it hit the ground and aimed it at my attacker. Five men clad in black leather suits erupted from the darkness. The glowing eyes of their gas masks, shined brightly at the idea of action. I felt a jolt rocket through my spinal cord. I flew to the ground paralyzed and twitching uncontrollably. I saw through my shaking vision, Cross staring smugly at my helpless body. Damn him. I felt a shadow pass over me.

"Look, you ignorant little cunt, I'm not here to kill you. You have too much potential for that. I'll give you a few days to think about my offer, maybe after you see what that thing can do you come to your senses." I looked up to feel the boot meet my temple.


	2. A close incounter

**I apologize for taking so long, here's the next chapter. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to go with this, though I have a lot of ideas. I appreciate feedback, even if it's negative! Please enjoy.**

**I want to make a quick note, that it was not my intention to make my character so over the top. While I love reading and writing about OCs I hate it when people make them change the flow of the story too much. I only wanted to make Alysa tough enough to hold her own against hordes of infected while still being vulnerable to to basic human emotions and weaknesses.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own blah blah blah**

I awoke for the THIRD time that day in an unusual place. I looked around briefly and realized they had dropped me off on a bench in central park. I rubbed my temple sorely.

"GAH! Why can't the military use blindfolds when they kidnap people!" I shouted to the sky. Several people walking by gave me a weird look and quickened their pace. I rubbed my face in a tired fashion. This was turning out to be a hell of a day. Where to go from here...

The smell of roasted coffee beans found their way into my nostrils and I drooled. That sounded like a good place to start. I dug a few rumpled dollars out of my pocket and ordered a coffee, extra strength, with four packets of sugar. After I had the steaming cup in my hands, I chose a bench to think over my options.

Well I _definitely_ wasn't joining Blackwatch, that much was certain. But then again it didn't really seem like I had another choice. I took a sip of the coffee, only to burn my tongue.

I mildly wondered what Randall had meant when he had said "maybe after you see what that thing can do, you'll come to your senses". I mean, Alex Mercer was just a man right? To my knowledge he was just scientist that used to work at Gentek. But then again all the terrorist reports were stating that it was a group of people, some rumors floated around about a whole bunch of people all dress alike were setting elaborate tricks for it to seem like they were super-powered.

I tilted my head back on the bench and glanced upwards at the gigantic buildings above me. I was by no means a city person, so the skyscrapers were still amazing to me. The heights they soared to were terrifying feats of construction. Just the thought of being on top of one of those things... I shivered. Heights were not my thing. Or leeches. God forbid someone realized that and combined the two.

I snapped back to attention, the General had said a few days, so I had at most three days to figure something out. I rubbed the back of my neck, I needed more information, especially on this ZEUS/Mercer concept. I had been bluffing back in the Blackwatch headquarters. The only thing I knew about Hope, Idaho was the name and that Randall was somehow tied into it.

I blew a wisp of hair out of my face. While I was on the subject, why was a General with as much pull as Randall bothering with me? Sure I guess you could say I had an... interesting background, but I went AWOL nearly a year and a half ago. If I wasn't mistaken that was a _bad _thing.

I finished my coffee and tossed the cup into a nearby trashcan. I stretched lazily, enjoying the growing buzz of caffeine in the back of my head. "Okay, now to find what the deal is with this Mercer guy." I strolled casually through the park in no particular direction until I saw a marine. I nonchalantly followed him back to a large base in the heart of a city. The base itself was huge, expanding almost three blocks. Apache helicopters littered the grass like lawn orniments, which seemed a little over the top, even to me. I ducked into an alley outside of the the base area, and waited patiently. Sure enough after a few minutes, a soldier passed by, within seconds he was on the ground unconcious.

I quickly undressed the man, wasting only enough time to chuckle at the soldiers poor choice of boxers. Coat, pants, and helmet on and mask in place. I waltzed into the base completly unnoticed. When I was actually within the boundary I paused to look around. Thousands of soldiers milled aimlessly around the area, it seemed almost... wasteful. All this to prevent one (maybe more) man? Especially with all this fire power, it hardly seemed necasary. I trotted toward the building that served as head quarters for this particular base. As I passed the door I noticed a large mechanism, about half the size of a car, with blinking green lights. A detector of some sort, though not one for metal. I ignored it, more pressing information looming inside. As I passed the double doors I noticed out of the corner of my eye the bright green lights turn yellow.

I passed the receptionist desk, strolling down the hall as if I knew where I was going. (One thing I hated about the military was their ability to make maze-like buildings... among other things) A few minutes of wandering, and I found what I was looking for, an elevater.

Two men stood outside, looking bored. I tried to walk by only to be stopped by a large hand.

"You need proper authorization to enter here. Where's your ID?" I mumbled something about losing it. "Then you cannot gain access." He waved his gun a bit as if to emphasize the comment. I shrugged.

"Shame, that." Before the two men knew what hit them, I had grabbed hold of their chin straps, and yanked down hard, onto my awaiting knee. I then grabbed a key off the guard who had spoken, scanned it and was on my way down into the record bay.

The area was vast, lined with bookshelf after bookshelf. The room was dank and musty and smelled faintly of decomposing paper.

To my luck, there was no one there so I had free reign over the library. I was however limited in my time, as someone was bound to find the bodies fairly soon. Quickly I browsed the 'M' section. Merry, Merca, Mercer! I pulled out the file, which was surprisingly small. I turned to leave passing by the 'C' section. Curiousity got the best of me and I pulled out my personal file.

Calder, S Alysa

Birthdate: 02/19/1985

Place of Birth: Minneapolis, MN

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Blue

Aprox. Weight: 120 lbs

Aprox. Height: 5'3"

Misson Record: 96%

I was scanning over an interesting section about my history when suddenly all the lights in the building turned red. A loud siren-like noise resounded and I couldn't help but cover my ears.

_**SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!**_ The metallic voice screeched over and over. Had I been found out already? I wasn't taking any chances. I shoved the file into my pant pocket and took out the handgun I had pilfered off of the unconcious soldier's body, silently clicking the safety off. I hastily entered the elevater, preparing for what awaited me when the doors opened.

To my relief no one was. I gratefully trotted down the halls, systematically checking each corner for soldiers. To my astonishment the entire building was empty. It wasn't until I reached the outdoors that I found out why.

Outside was chaos. Hundreds of guns were firing at a rapidly moving object. Helicopters were taking off, tanks screeching to a halt, but above all the noise was a that obnoxious beeping. It eminated from the metal mechanism that was now blinking bright red. I had only a moment to stare at it before a huge chunk of metal silenced it. I froze stunned.

"Damn, that fucking sound is annoying." I whipped my head around to see... _him_. Mercer. ZEUS.

He wasn't looking at me but at the incoming tank coming our way. Instinctively I jumped out of the way, just as a shell exploded where Mercer was.

Whoever that man had been, he was gone now... Or so I thought.

The man in the hoodie and black jacket stood up sorely brushing himself off. I stared as he picked up a huge chunk of twisted metal and threw it at the tank. It hit it's target with a resounding 'clunk', leaving a very decent sized dent in the tank's surface. The tank still came, if not slower, until it was nearly running over Mercer.

I watched in disbelief as I saw the man's arms transform into hulking masses of flesh. He swung hard hitting the tank square in the front. It promptly exploded. I was still frozen on the ground, only moving when a piece of red hot metal seared through part of my forearm. I yelped and rolled out of the way.

Mercer had his attention on other soldiers, and didn't register my cry. I watched again as tendrils grew out of his arms absorbing the muscle then melted back into him returning his arms back to normal. I stumbled to my feet, scampering quickly away from the fight. I tried to process what I had just witnessed, it hadn't seemed real...

"Hey! Your the one who stole the files!" I snapped out of my thoughts to see a half a dozen men standing in front of me. Two of which were the ones I had knocked out in the building. All had their guns trained on me. I placed my hands in the air, feeling the warm trickle of blood pour down my left arm.

"Are you serious? You're worried about me when there's THAT thing attacking the base?" I nodded my head toward the fire fight with Mercer, whom was easily winning.

"You stole top secret files from a government facility, we are authorized to shoot on site, no matter the situtation." I looked at him dubiously, he was completely serious.

'Oh for the love-!" I whipped out my hand gun and fired a few warning shots to scatter the men. In two steps I was on the closet one slamming my knee into his stomach. Using him as a sheild I fired twice, hitting two others in the leg. I spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the ribcage to the man behind me. As if in slow motion I saw one man raise his gun. I unshiethed my combat knife and leapt forward. I slammed the blade into his stomach, pulled up and elbowed him in the jaw. I yanked the knife out then threw it at the final soldier. I hit him directly in the eye. I doubled over, breathing hard from exhaustion and left-over adrenaline.

I became abruptly aware that the fight had quieted to a degree. I turned to see ZEUS in the middle of a field of dead bodies. His attention was directed solely on me. My heart nearly stopped, and I felt a cold sweat begin to drip down my neck. Reflexively I pulled out my handgun and aimed it at the man, who didn't move. I didn't fire, what good could a bullet do to a man who swatted a tank away like it was a fly?

Time seemed to stop, the silence only filled with my quickening heartbeat. I could smell my own fear, and had a feeling so could he. This wasn't a man, it was a monster.

He smirked at my cowardice, daring me to fire. After a moment, I put my gun down. I widened my stance stubbornly, and shouted. "So what now?"

"As long as you don't follow me, I don't care." then he was gone.

Time seemed to correct itself and i could hear helicopters overhead. My arm ached, badly, I would need stitches. I looked off toward to street and saw the blur of a person jumping from roof to roof. "So that's Alex Mercer" I whispered, I shrugged, retrieved my knife and stumbled to the nearest hospital.

A fews hours and eightteen stitches later I stumbled into my apartment, it wasn't much to say the least. It could barely be considered a hovel. But hey, it was home. I muttereed a slight profanity as my arm grazed the door. I was a little loopy because of the pain pills they had given me, I had refused them, but the doctor had been presistent. I yawned and dropped onto my bed. For a moment I stared at the ceiling. Then I pulled the file out from my pocket and skimmed it's contents.

Mercer, J Alexander

Birthdate: 11/ 01/ 1981

PLace of Birth: Unknown

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Blue

Aprox. Weight: 170 lbs.

Aprox. Height: 5'10"

Alex Mercer is a scientist working on the Blacklight project- became a liability- stole- sister of Dana Mercer-

Most of the folder had been destroyed in my fight earlier that day, with only a few bits of information clear enough to read. But only one sentence caught my attention. At the bottom of the folder there was a large red stamp stating DECEASED. I flipped through the file and found a photo, the man at the base HAD been Mercer, that much was for sure, so why did it say he was dead?

I rubbed my temples sorely. It wouldn't be the first time I'd heard of the military faking a death of a soldier, though in this case it was a company. I leaned over and taped the ripped up piece of paper to the wall, next to a few articles about the outbreak. I turned onto my back. This who situation had piqued my interest. I might as well try to find as much out as possible, what else was there to do? The island was blocked off, the streets swarmed with infected, soldiers were shooting anything that moved... I sighed.

"What a predicament you've gotten yourself into this time Alysa." I smiled, I could almost here my father telling me that. I closed my eyes and relaxed. Tomorrow, I would find Dana Mercer.

**Sorry, so short, R&R. You know the drill.**


End file.
